Stock-car



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. 8a A. ISKE. Stock Car.

Patented Juge 7,1881.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. 85 A. ISKE.

' Stock Car.

No. 242,453. Patented June 7,1881.

UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICEO ANTHONY ISKE AND ALBERT ISKE, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

STOCK-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,453, dated June 7', 1881.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ANTHONY IsKE and ALBERT ISKE, citizens of the United States, residing at Lancaster city, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Supports for Stock-Oars; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices for preventing cattle from lying down while in stockcars; and it consists,principally,in constructing such devices in the form of aframe 0r casing with folding side sections and top, so that they can be flattened down on the floor of a car to allow the cattle to pass in and out.

It also consists in the devices hereinafter set forth for raising and lowering the top piece of said frame or casin g, for raising and folding down the side sections thereof, and for locking said frame or casing in its upright position.

As the various improvements in these different parts of our cattle-support will be fully described in this specification, and afterward clearly pointed out in the claims, we nred not here indicate them more minutely.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of our cattlesupport locked in its elevated position, a portion of the walls of the stock-car being also shown. Fig. 2 represents the same when folded down to allow the ingress or exit of the cattle. Fig. 3 represents a perspective detail view of the top section and its standard. Fig. 4 represents a similar view of one of the side sections, and Fig. 5 represents an end view of the device as a whole.

A designates the top section, and B B designate the two side sections, of our cattlesupport, the three together forming a long rectangular frame or casing whichv extends from end to end of the stock car, passing between the fore legs and hind legs of the cattle as they stand crosswise therein. Supports thus arranged have hitherto often been used for the same purpose-namely, to prevent cattle from lying down while in transit, and I do not make any broad claim thereto. It is evident, however, that a support left permanently in the position above described and shown in Fig. 1 would greatly impede the loading and unloading of stock, and various efforts have been made to get such supports as much out of the way as possible on such occasions. We arrange our support so that its sections can be readily folded or flattened upon one another on the bottom of the car, in which case they offer scarcely any obstacle. To effect this the side sections, B B, are hinged at b b to the floor of the car or to strips secured thereon, so that they can vibrate from an inner and horizontal position to an outer and vertical position, and vice versa; and the top section, A, is supported on standards a a a, which are journaled or pivoted so as to have similar vibration in the direction of the length of the car. Fixed rectangular end frames, 0 O, inclose the ends of the said hinged sections B B, so that the stiles or upright posts of said end frames prevent said hinged sections from opening outward beyond a vertical position.

The inner faces of hinged side sections, BB, are provided near their top edges with guidebooks D D, which are arranged to extend down into longitudinal slots A A, formed in top section, A. These slots A and the standards a allow to said section-A a limited longitudinal as well as vertical motion. On the under side of said section is a longitudinal rod, E, moving in guides c c, and connected at its ends to cords E E Cord-E passes around a pulley, F, secured to one end of said top section, A, and thence to frame 0, or any fixed part of the car. (lord E" passes in like manner under or through the other end of said top section, thence through the car-wall and over a pulley, F, secured to the outside of the end of the car, to the shaft 9 of a Windlass or crankwheel, G, that turns in a bracket affiXed to the outside of the car.

On the end of section A, near said Windlass,

a perforated lug or plate, H, is attached, the same being arranged to protrude through the end of the car and receive a locking-pin, I, (preferably chained to said car,) which passes into the said lug or plate, and prevents its withdrawal.

The operationof our cattle-support is as follows: The cattle are driven over it when it is folded on the floor, and they are packed, so to speak, across it. The side sections, B B, are then raised to a vertical position by means of bent levers or rods J J, which extend out through the end of the car and upward nearly to the height of windlass G. This windlass is then operated, winding cord E on its shaft 9, and drawing upon the proximate end of top section, A. The standards a turn upward and forward on their journals under the effect of the pull thus given, and the said section A has a compound forward and upward motion until its perforated plate H protrudes through the end of the car. Pin I is then passed through the perforation in said plate and locks all parts of the support in tbeposition shown in Fig. 1. The guide-hooks D D do not impede the movement above described, but they regulate it and brace the parts of the support by holding them together. As the cord E draws upon rod E, the opposite cord necessarily follows said rod, so that the two ends of the section A have an equal upward draft exerted upon them.

When in its raised position the support forms a perfectly close casing, so that none of the stock can possibly get its feet entangled under or in the same. The end casings, G O, the pin I, and the hooks D D, with the other parts described, combine to hold it rigidly upright under the bellies of the animals, which are thereby prevented from falling or lying down, and thus saved from serious injury. It cannot give way unless something breaks, and the parts are too strong to allow that.

When the cattle-ear is to be unloaded, the pin I is first withdrawn. 'The windlass G is then unwound and the top section, A, of the support is forced longitudinally backward and downward into its lowest position. Thelevers J are then successively turned inward, folding sectionsB B above the section A, which thus is shielded from manure as the animals pass out. Otherwise section A would become soiled and would soil the bellies of the cattle when next used.

Of course a hook or any equivalent fastening may be substituted for pin I, or elastic belt-gearing may take the place of the rod E and the cords E E with their pulleys; or crankshafts and cog-gearing may be used instead of levers J J. Various other changes may also be made in the "arious parts of our support and its operating mechanism without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cattle-support for stock-cars, a top section and side sections folding fiat upon the bottom of the ear, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with movable top section, A, the hinged side sections, B B, arranged to fold over said top section when the latter is in its lowestposition, and thereby proteet said top section, substantially as setforth.

3. The end frames, 0 0, each consistin g of upright posts and a horizontal top piece, in combination with the hinged side sections, B B, and top section, A, substantially as set forth.

4. The guide-hooks D D, in combination with movable top section, A, and hinged side sections, B B, substantially as set forth.

5. The pivoted or jonrnaled vibrating standards a a a, in combination with top section, A, to which they are attached, and devices for lifting or drawing the latter upward and forward, substantially as set forth.

6. The rod 1*], moving longitudinally on the under side of top section, A, in combination with cord E, which is fixed at its outer end, and with cord E and windlass or crank-wheel G, operating substantially as set forth.

7. In combination with the vertically and longitudinally moving top section, A, the perforated lug or plate H and the pin 1, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination with movable top section, A, the side sections, B B, provided with levers J J, arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereofwe aflixour signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ANTHONY ISKE. ALBERT ISKE.

Witnesses ZURIEL SWoPE, H. It. MoCoNoMY. 

